Steven Pearl
American basketball coach (born 1987)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Steven Richard Pearl (born September 14, 1987) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head men's basketball coach at Auburn.
Pearl in 2019 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Auburn |
| Conference | SEC |
| Record | 18–16 (.529) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | September 14, 1987 Iowa City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 2007–2011 | Tennessee |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2017–2023 | Auburn (assistant) |
| 2023–2025 | Auburn (assoc. HC) |
| 2025–present | Auburn |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2014–2015 | Auburn (assistant S&C) |
| 2015–2017 | Auburn (DBO) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 18–16 (.529) |
Early life and playing career
Pearl is the son of former Auburn head basketball coach Bruce Pearl.[1] He initially attended Nicolet High School in Glendale, Wisconsin while his father was the head coach of the Milwaukee Panthers and transferred to West High School in Knoxville, Tennessee before his senior year. He was named first team All-State after averaging 21.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game during his senior year.[2]
Pearl played for his father at Tennessee.[3] He played in 101 games for the Volunteers over four seasons after redshirting his true freshman season.[4] After graduation, Pearl worked as a medical sales representative at Stryker Corporation for three years.[5]
Coaching career
Assistant coach (2014–2025)
Pearl left Stryker in 2014 to join his father's staff at Auburn as an assistant strength and conditioning coach and served as the Tigers' director of basketball operations from 2015 to 2017.[6] Pearl was promoted to an on-court assistant position in 2017.[7]
On December 14, 2021, Pearl served as acting head coach for a game against North Alabama while his father was concluding a two-game NCAA suspension.[8] The Tigers won by a score of 70–44, giving the younger Pearl his first victory as a collegiate head coach.[9]
In August 2023, Pearl was promoted to associate head coach and given the responsibility of coordinating the Tigers' defense.[10] With Pearl as defensive coordinator, Auburn finished both the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons ranked in the top 10 nationally for adjusted defensive efficiency, according to college basketball analytics website KenPom.[11] These defensive metrics contributed to Auburn winning the 2024 SEC tournament, the 2025 SEC regular season championship, and the 2025 NCAA Tournament South Regional Final.
Head coach (2025–present)
In September 2025, Pearl took over as Auburn's head coach following his father's retirement.[12] He is on a five-year contract, receiving a base salary of $3 million annually.[13]
On November 3, 2025, Auburn defeated Bethune–Cookman by a score of 95–90 in overtime in the first regular season game of the 2025–26 season, giving Pearl his first win as full-time head coach.[14] Pearl's first SEC victory came on January 10, 2026, when the Tigers defeated No. 15 Arkansas, 95–73.[15] On January 24, Pearl's Tigers upset the defending national champion No. 16 Florida Gators on the road by a score of 76–67, snapping a 30-year drought of Auburn victories in Gainesville.[16]
After starting the season 14–7 and 5–3 in the SEC, Auburn collapsed down the stretch, losing 9 of their final 12 games to finish with an overall record of 17–16 (7–11 in the SEC). Auburn was not selected for the 2026 NCAA tournament. The 2025–26 season was the first full season in which Auburn missed the NCAA tournament since 2016–17. (The 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Auburn was declared ineligible for the 2021 tournament due to a self-imposed postseason ban announced before the season[17]).
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (2021) | |||||||||
| 2021–22 | Auburn | 1–0* | 0–0 | ||||||
| Auburn Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (2025–present) | |||||||||
| 2025–26 | Auburn | 17–16 | 7–11 | T–11th | NIT | ||||
| Auburn: | 18–16 (.529) | 7–11 (.389) | |||||||
| Total: | 18–16 (.529) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
- In December 2021, Bruce Pearl received a two-game suspension as part of sanctions imposed on Auburn by the NCAA due to former assistant Chuck Person's involvement in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal.[8] Wes Flanigan served as acting head coach during a 99–68 win over Nebraska on December 11.[18] Steven Pearl then served as acting head coach during a 70–44 win over North Alabama on December 14.[9]